Milton: A republican and a christian - Discuss

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Milton: A republican and a christian - Discuss

Milton is well known as an epic poet, but also as a prominent member of the Protestant faith and he has often been labelled as a Puritan. In this essay I will attempt to explore the nature of Milton's Christianity and his personal beliefs and inner conflicts, looking for evidence particularly at Paradise Lost but also at other more minor poems. Parallells and disparities between Milton's views and other movements within the society of the day will also be considered.

John Milton was also renowned as a close ally of Cromwell and a prominent exponent of the English Revolution in the seventeenth century. Indeed, after the Restoration his life was for some time in peril and even after he escaped alive, he had to retire completely from public life; such was the perceived threat he represented. The main purpose of this essay will, therefore, be to examine how Milton's stance as a Christian and his position as a staunch Republican were related and how one effected the other.

Milton despised what he saw as the ornamentation and purely selfish aims of the Cavaliers and the Anglican Church. He defended